The S-Rank Paparazzi Reincarnates as an Idol - Chapter 105

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 105
Despite my inner worries, Choi Ae nodded readily.
“Of course! Just let me know when you’re ready.”
He quickly switched his phone to video mode.
“I’m ready.”
“Alright, I’m starting.”
Choi Ae pressed the wolf plush against his cheek as he leaned closer toward the camera lens.
‘Oh my… my heart feels like it’s going to burst!’
I captured his image as he gripped his trembling hands and stared intently through the lens.
“Seo Yoon, thank you so much for supporting our team. I’d like to send my gratitude and encouragement back to you. Always stay strong! Fighting!”
‘I could die happy right now.’
This moment was truly worth every penny of those hundreds of albums I’d purchased.
“Time’s up. We need to move on.”
At the Staff Member’s call, I reluctantly dragged my feet away.
As I moved farther away, Choi Ae waved the wolf plush and gave me a final greeting.
“Seo Yoon, thank you for the plush! I’ll treasure it!”
In that moment, I understood something.
This person wasn’t just an idol who gave his all on stage.
He was someone who gave his heart sincerely to each and every fan.
All the time, money, and affection I’d invested across hundreds of albums seemed to exist for this very moment.
Park Mo had tried not to look back as she left her seat, but the lingering attachment made her turn around anyway.
Choi Ae was still waving his hand.
‘It was so moving…’
The moment Park Mo returned to her seat, her legs gave out and she collapsed into the chair.
‘That was the best.’
She’d attended countless Fan Sign Events while supporting other idols before, but never one with such high satisfaction.
“Wow… I just saw him, but I want to see him again already.”
Laughter bubbled up even as tears welled in her eyes simultaneously.
‘I have no choice but to keep loving him.’
Watching Choi Ae prove his worth so thoroughly, Park Mo clenched both her fists.
‘Since I’ve already fallen this deep, let me support him properly!’
☆☆☆
Some were crying with overwhelming emotion, while others couldn’t speak and simply hung their heads low.
In this space where countless fans were met in such a short time, the colors of emotion transmitted were all different.
‘The variety of headbands is really impressive.’
Starting with the wolf headband, I wore rabbit ears, cat ears, ribbons, and all manner of headbands in succession.
Whenever there was a brief gap, I made sure not to forget to strike poses toward the professional cameras in the Waiting Area while wearing all the props the fans had given me.
‘That book cover prop is quite creative.’
The large prop with the title [The Northern Grand Duke Debuts as an Affectionate Idol] written on it—whether it was a web novel cover or not—had a circular hole cut out where the face should be.
When a fan asked me to, I stuck my face through that hole, and she screamed with such delight.
I have so many people to be grateful for.
As the Fan Sign Event progressed smoothly, not every moment was beautiful.
Whether due to the fate of a team formed through the Survival Competition, the proportion of individual fans supporting only specific members was far higher than those supporting the entire group.
Occasionally, I noticed fans who openly neglected other members just to see their bias.
Even when a member greeted them, they would simply push the album aside and stare fixedly at their bias, or refuse to engage in conversation altogether, maintaining an icy silence.
Perhaps this was unavoidable in the early stages of debut.
The aggression of those who supported specific individuals over the entire team was wounding the members.
Especially whenever I caught a troubled expression crossing the faces of Seo Ha-yul or Kang Chan, who were particularly shy, my grip on the pen tightened.
Those two worried me the most.
Unlike the other members with easygoing personalities and strong mental fortitude, Seo Ha-yul and Kang Chan had surprisingly tender hearts beneath their harsh appearances.
“Si-woo, are you happy being first because people pity you?”
The fan sitting directly in front of me seemed quite displeased that I had ranked first.
Was this already the third time hearing such a question?
It wasn’t exactly wrong, so it didn’t really sting.
I responded with a relaxed smile.
“I can’t deny that my family circumstances, which were unfortunately exposed, had some influence. Still, I believe the fans chose me based on my efforts rather than my personal circumstances.”
“…You really are shameless, Si-woo.”
There were always one or two people like this who confronted me so openly.
“I think that’s one of my strengths. I’ll prove through my abilities that you shouldn’t think I was chosen out of pity.”
“Ugh… talking to you drains me. I’m leaving.”
“Yes! Please take care!”
I bowed ninety degrees toward the fan standing up from their seat.
Good riddance.
This was mild compared to what I usually dealt with.
Though there were occasionally fans itching to provoke me, by my standards they were adorable.
In fact, watching the retreating figure of a hostile individual fan giving up and leaving gave me a peculiar thrill.
I was waiting for the next fan when it happened.
A sharp voice came from the seat beside me.
“Kang Chan, is what I’m saying funny to you?”
“…No.”
When I turned my head, a woman with her arms crossed was glaring at Kang Chan sharply.
“You really can’t manage your expressions. I’m only telling you this because I’m a fan, but if you want to continue as an idol, you need to fix your mannerisms and expressions first.”
“…I apologize.”
Kang Chan’s head dropped toward the floor.
As I was debating whether to intervene, words that should never have left a fan’s mouth spilled out.
“Is it obvious you were raised by your grandfather? Tsk, this is why kids without parents always show it.”
She had crossed the line.
Without hesitation, I pushed myself up from my seat.
There was no choice.
I moved to the side and suddenly pulled Kang Chan’s shoulder into a side hug.
“Si-woo?”
I flashed Kang Chan a professional smile, the kind reserved for social interactions.
“Same age! What are you talking about with the fan? Let me join in too.”
And I locked eyes with the woman, whose bewilderment was written all over her face.
“That’s alright, isn’t it?”
My tone remained courteous throughout, but my gaze didn’t yield an inch.
The woman fell silent for a moment.
The sharp momentum she’d been directing at Kang Chan wavered subtly in the face of this unexpected intervention.
“…Oh, no. I’m having a private conversation with Chan right now.”
The woman stammered in apparent confusion, slowly uncrossing her arms.
But I didn’t give her room to escape, driving my point home with an even brighter smile.
“Ah, a private conversation? I happened to catch some of it from the side, and you were really concerned about our Chan.”
“…!”
“When the topic of family upbringing came up, I was so moved I rushed over.”
The moment the words “family upbringing” left my lips, the woman’s face drained of color in an instant.
I felt Kang Chan’s shoulders tremble slightly.
‘This bulky guy just sat there apologizing while listening to such vicious criticism.’
Heat surged within me, but I forced myself to maintain my composure.
“Since Chan grew up in his grandfather’s care, he has good manners. He tends to think everything fans say is always right.”
I tapped the album in front of the woman with my finger.
“But what you just said—that was directed at me, not Chan, right? Everyone knows I grew up without parents. If you’d said that to Chan, I think he’d be too hurt.”
“That’s not what I meant….”
“Surely our beloved Lumina wouldn’t describe not having parents as a ‘flaw’ in a demeaning way. Right?”
I deliberately emphasized the fandom name, and the woman’s pupils trembled uncontrollably.
The atmosphere in the hall shifted noticeably.
The gazes of nearby fans began to pierce sharply.
Whispers erupted alongside the sound of held breaths from all around.
“Si-woo, I’m okay….”
Kang Chan tugged lightly at my sleeve, but I grasped his hand firmly and flashed the woman one final smile.
“We don’t have parents, but instead we have fans who cherish us like family. Right, Chan? Someone who came all this way to give us advice.”
I scribbled my signature onto the woman’s album.
[Thank you for caring about Chan. I’ll watch over him from beside him too. – Si-woo -]
It was less a signature and more a warning.
“What are you doing?”
“Signing. You came to get a signature today, didn’t you?”
The woman’s lips twisted.
“No, I was just being honest as a fan. Idols should receive that level of feedback, right?”
“That’s true.”
I nodded and added in the gentlest voice I could muster.
“Feedback is important. But words that hurt rather than provide feedback—I don’t think we have any obligation to accept those.”
“…Are you teaching me right now?”
“No. I’m just explaining.”
I lowered my gaze and glanced at Kang Chan.
His tightly pressed lips and trembling fingertips made it clear he was genuinely hurt.
“Kang Chan has been more sincere than anyone since before his debut. He’s never acted carelessly in front of fans. He gets so nervous about misspeaking that he even writes down anticipated questions on his palm.”
It was despicable to wound such a hardworking twenty-year-old.
A way of loving that tears someone down and proves it through hurt is fundamentally wrong.
“Bringing up his birth circumstances to someone like that… it’s not just unbecoming of an idol, it’s disrespectful as a human being.”
The fact that Kang Chan grew up in his grandfather’s care without parents had already spread across the internet, so most fans knew about it.
But I never expected someone would use it like this as leverage in a negotiation.
In that instant, the Hall fell completely silent.
I sensed the Staff Members carefully shifting their positions.
The Female Guest bit her lip hard and muttered something.
“…You’re being dramatic.”
“Yes. I suppose I am, aren’t I? Especially when it comes to the Group Members.”
I smiled brightly and bowed my head slightly.
“Still, today’s Fan Sign Event is meant to be a joyful occasion. I’d appreciate it if we could wrap this up here.”
The Female Guest grabbed her album and stood up abruptly.
“What a mess.”
Before the Staff Member could even intervene, she fled the Hall.
‘Good riddance.’
I tapped Kang Chan’s back as he stood there dazed.
“You okay?”
“…Yeah.”
Kang Chan still couldn’t lift his head.
“When the next fan comes, just do what you were doing. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
“…Si-woo, thank you.”
Those words made my heart sink in a peculiar way.
“Yeah, buddy.”
I picked up my pen again and encouraged Kang Chan.
“Kang Chan, what are you doing? The next fan is waiting.”
“Huh? Oh… yeah.”
Kang Chan wiped his eyes and straightened in his seat.
Only after I confirmed the next fan approaching and offering words of comfort did I return to my own position.
‘Is it really something to be attacked over like this just because you don’t have parents?’
I never understood it—whenever sharp remarks came flying about parents I had no choice in having, it made no sense to me.
‘It’s an environment I couldn’t choose, so what exactly am I supposed to do about it?’
Of course, there were plenty of good people, but there were always some who deliberately triggered that wound.
Anyway, right now I had five members beside me like brothers, and in front of me were steadfast fans ready to support me rather than one rude person.
‘I hope Kang Chan realizes that too.’
Watching the approaching fan, I adjusted my grip on the pen.
The tension in my fingertips was far more resolute than before.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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